


Public Knowledge

by privatesnarker



Series: Everybody [Spoiler] Verse [1]
Category: Romeo And Juliet - All Media Types, Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare, Rómeó és Júlia (Színház)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Conspiracy, Ghosts, Minor Character Death, POV Outsider, Plot Twists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-04 06:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1768789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/privatesnarker/pseuds/privatesnarker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Everyone knows that the Prince’s older nephew and heir never leaves the palace, has not been seen for a score of years. Some say he is sickly, some whisper he is mad, and at last all eyes turn appraisingly on his brother. If Escalus is to die childless, will he be a good ruler? Mercutio seems spirited enough, and able-bodied, to be sure. But wise? Just? Far-seeing?</i>
</p>
<p>Everybody in Verona knows how the story ended, and what happened afterwards.<br/>
(Events take place in Space Verona)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Public Knowledge

**Author's Note:**

> A little idea that wouldn't leave me alone.  
> The description "Everybody [Spoiler]" is nicked from [drcalvin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/drcalvin) :>

Everyone knows that the Prince’s older nephew and heir never leaves the palace, has not been seen for a score of years. Some say he is sickly, some whisper he is mad, and at last all eyes turn appraisingly on his brother. If Escalus is to die childless, will he be a good ruler? Mercutio seems spirited enough, and able-bodied, to be sure. But wise? Just? Far-seeing?

Then there’s this horrible business with him and the Montague and Capulet heirs. Of course afterwards everyone knows how it happened, it was in the city square for crying out loud. It was noon, that much is true, where every respectable citizen is fast asleep, all doors and shutters closed against the heat; but the wailing and screaming later turned out even the oldest and youngest. Everyone saw them lying there, poor boys, so pale and still. Like they were sleeping, if it hadn’t been for all the blood. And before the city can catch its breath, the Capulet girl is found poisoned, and then the exiled Montague boy turns up dead at her tomb, and Verona falls into a state of shock. The funerals are held as one big ceremony, a stone-faced Lady Montague supporting an inconsolable Lady Capulet, and before the oppressing summer heat has left Verona, the feud has disappeared for good. This is the story mothers will be telling their children and grandchildren, of tragic love and futile hatred.

And then, a few weeks afterwards, Valentine appears at a council meeting for the first time. Witnesses say that when he entered the room, a collective breath was drawn, and venerable gentlemen crossed themselves against the devil. For a moment it seemed like a ghost had turned up, the likeness was - but soon enough everyone saw that they were not so much alike as first impressions had made it seem. The elder brother’s hair is darker, his face pale and drawn, the eyes downcast. He moves with the slow care of the invalid, and his voice, seldom heard, is raspy and quiet. He listens attentively to every speaker, but sometimes his eyes seem to look into faraway times, and approving voices say that he truly mourns Mercutio’s death, which promises a humane and merciful character. He never antagonizes the Prince, and his few contributions are valid and reasonable. The people cast a benevolent eye on his close friendship with the Montagues’ Benvolio as well, though the two make an unlikely pair. Nevertheless, a month after Valentine’s first appearance it is public knowledge that Benvolio is always well-received within the palace, and that the Prince’s heir puts great store by his company. What a sympathetic man this makes him seem, kind-hearted and mild (though no one would go as far as calling him _approachable_ ). All in all, Verona cautiously hopes for the future.

Of course everyone knows that Valentine travels offplanet to Mantua regularly for his bad health, and stays there incognito with friends. At first these monthly trips baffled the good people of Verona to no end, but who says he didn’t do them in secret before? They do seem to do him much good in any case, he comes back visibly refreshed and mellow. He only takes Benvolio and a few servants and only stays away for a few days, never makes a big show of it, characteristic for his humble and serious nature.

Now there are some people who have been to Mantua and saw the Prince’s nephew there, and tell strange stories. Or not even stories, just loose impressions that are met with skepticism and ridicule. They say for example that they saw him leave the home of his friends, lingering in the doorway to take his leave, and he was standing much straighter than usual, talking and gesturing animatedly, throwing his head back in a hearty laugh, just like - Here the accounts are usually interrupted by accusations of exaggeration, and in any case the Prince’s heir is obviously a private man who keeps his emotions in check while working, who says he cannot be freer around his friends? Who were these mysterious people anyway? The witnesses say they could not identify them, the man was wearing a broad-brimmed hat and the woman stayed back in the shadows of the house. When plied with wine, they will admit that they were too distracted, not only by Valentine’s exceptional and haunting joviality, but by – by the family’s tall manservant, who stood by, and his glare, and his profile… But he was clearly a servant, his hair shorn and his clothes simple, so it couldn’t be. And anyway, you cannot talk about seeing spirits without suggesting that certain people might not have led a blameless life, if their souls cannot find rest, can you? And one does not talk bad about the dead.

* * *

[What no one knows but the Prince and Friar Laurence: there’s an unmarked grave under the chapel’s floor. Only the two of them were present for the funeral, long before Mercutio was born.

What only Escalus knows: he never deleted Valentine’s official ID from the Central Government program. Technically, he’s responsible for the data to be correct so Central Gov can levy taxes and track mortality rates, but this is Verona, and here things are done differently.]


End file.
